Academic Profile

Dina holds a bachelorís degree in human geography with a focus on development geography from the University of Oslo and a Masters of Environment from the University of Melbourne. Her masterís thesis analysed Australian adaptation finance in the Pacific under the supervision of Professor Jon Barnett. At the University of Melbourne she also worked as a research assistant for Professor Robyn Eckersley on the research project: What Makes a Leader?: Developed Countries' Responsibilities under the International Climate Regime.

Before coming to Oxford Dina worked as a: consultant for Sund Energy, a Norwegian energy consultancy; environmental programs coordinator for the Australian NGO Global Voices; co-founder of holder de ord, a Norwegian democratic watchdog organisation; intern for UNDP- Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People analysing adaptation and climate change finance activities; and consultant for the Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on improving their institutional planning and coordination capacity.

In addition to her DPhil research she is a consultant for the International Institute for Sustainable Development - Reporting Services, writing the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, which provides summaries and analysis of a range of environmental negotiations and conferences globally.

Current Research

Her DPhil research is investigating the capacities and conditions likely required for social transformation towards sustainability to take place, and whether and what deliberate actions can help bring about social transformation. She is especially investigating what transformational capacities organisations likely need to inhabit to increase chances of fostering social transformation within wider society and is developing a framework to help identify these capacities. This framework especially aims to shed light on issues of power, agency and politics both within organisations and the societies they operate in when working towards deliberate social transformation. She is testing the framework on organisations involved in urban renewal and sustainability in Istanbul and Barcelona.

She is a part of GREEN-WIN a Horizon 2020 funded international transdisciplinary research collaboration applying a solution-oriented approach targeted at increasing the understanding of links between climate action and sustainability and overcoming implementation barriers through win-win strategies. In this project she is a part of Work Package Six researching urban transformation and the green win potential of strategies in Istanbul, Shanghai, Barcelona and Venice.